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Judge raps police over fraud case warrant

Police failed to disclose all relevant information when getting a warrant as part of a major fraud case, a High Court judge has ruled.

Lord Justice Elias quashed the warrant after saying the Southwark Crown Court judge who issued it may well not have done so had he known the full facts.

Officers from the South East Serious Organised Crime Unit, which at the time was managed by Sussex Police, seized materials from David Mills at his home in Gloucestershire in June 2013, as part of a confiscation investigation alongside the fraud case.

But Sussex Police is taking advice on whether to hand back the materials, after Lord Justice Elias said the information used to apply for the warrant “fell well short of full and frank disclosure”.

Mr Mills and his wife, Alison Mills, of Gloucestershire, asked for the judicial review.

A Sussex Police spokesman said it accepted the judgement, adding there was “no operational Sussex Police involvement in the case”.

He added: “We also note that the judgement includes a finding to the effect that police acted in good faith.”

Mr Mills, 57, of Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, faces allegations that he conspired with others to corrupt an employee at Halifax Bank of Scotland to secure contracts for Quayside Corporate Services.